Reviews

Hamster Princess: Giant Trouble by Ursula Vernon

anna_hepworth's review

5.0

I adore Vernon's writing, and am particularly fond of the Harriet Hamster series, and this story did not disappoint in any way. The quirky extra details are often the things that really make the stories for me -- the rescue of the harp/hamster hybrid character who is all about the heavy rock/metal music, and the basic genderqueer nature of battle quails are the ones that come to mind here.

As with the previous three books, fairy tales aimed squarely at pre-teen girls which are about heroism without the requisite romance sub-plot are a delight to read, and I'm so happy that Vernon is continuing to write for this market.

pussreboots's review

4.0

Giant Trouble by Ursula Vernon is the fourth of the Harriet Hamsterbone series. Harriet is on her way home from cliff diving when she's approached by someone wanting to sell her a bag of beans. Harriet wisely wants no part of this but Mumphrey gets into the bag and eats a bean. By the next morning, Harriet and her quail have a giant beanstalk to contend with.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comments_09/giant_trouble.html

bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

This is a super-cute retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk featuring everyone's favorite hamster princess. In this one, we get to see her friends being more useful than they sometimes are, which is nice. (Not that Harriet couldn't have gotten herself out of trouble entirely on her own. Somehow.)

I appreciate the humor in this series: it's aimed at middle grade readers, but it still equally funny to adults. I highly recommend this series to anyone who thinks it might be their kind of book.

kesterbird's review against another edition

5.0

I love this series SO MUCH. I laughed hard enough that I had to answer questions about the book through a wall.

bethmitcham's review against another edition

4.0

Lots of fun, fairy tale references, and good times.

greymalkin's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

And now onto Jack and the Beanstalk, another fairytale I don't generally find very compelling but with Harriet running around, it's delightful.  I was very impressed how this book introduced the idea of slavery in a way that made it clear that it was not acceptable and yet didn't exploit the misery and victimization to make Harriet the hero of the story. 

It was wonderful that Strings was just as much a part of her own rescue as Harriet was rescuer.

librarianelizabeth's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars because it was charming and very funny but the Hamster/ harp hybrid was an absurdly alarming notion

jen1110's review against another edition

5.0

Cliff diving, magic beanstalks, a goose, a talking harp, a giant, and MORE!

juliusmoose's review against another edition

4.0

This is a delightful sorta retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk. Harriet is still a fantastic princess and main character. Possibly my roommate would like me to get to the end of this series so I will stop reading him snatches of these books.